Wednesday greeted us with our first visit to Hithathiya village.A nervous moment all round I am sure. But we were soon met with a spectacle to welcome us; a parade of traditional dancing, music and singing. This was a truly welcoming sight. We viewed our sponsored school for the first time and enjoyed a wonderful opening ceremony. It was great to see what our hard work had culminated in. The ceremony itself included an array of candles, speeches and entertainment and even the flower bed had been arranged so it read “DURHAM” in its greenery.

Thursday brought us to Project Sri Lanka villages of the past; namely Rassandeniya and Gandarawatte. The school at Rassandeniya, now two years on, is flourishing and was an absolute inspiration to us all. Later we moved onto Gandarawatte and met the infamously friendly local Buddhist Monk. We enjoyed a feast with the Monk and had a wonderful afternoon teaching the children some classroom classics, such as the hokey-cokey. Overall a great end to a memorable week.